CDNs have quietly become one of the most important layers of internet and AI infrastructure, moving everything from website traffic to large-scale AI data transfer. In this episode we compare the three public leaders — Cloudflare (NET), Akamai (AKAM), and Fastly (FSLY) — on revenue growth, gross margin, operating margin, free cash flow margin, and balance sheet strength.

We also give you a first look at the new Chip Stock Investor research dashboard, launching in September at chipstockinvestor.com. The CDN comparison is the demo: everything you hear us pull up, you'll be able to run yourself.

A few things that stood out:

  • Cloudflare, another 30%+ quarter (33.5% growth) with net cash, but trading near 40x sales at a $110B+ market cap.
  • Akamai is larger by revenue, but carrying $4.2B in net debt after an acquisition-led push into cloud infrastructure.
  • Fastly, growth re-accelerated past 20%, putting the smallest of the three back in the value conversation.


Full company-by-company research, valuation models, and portfolio allocation notes go live for Semiconductor Insider members in September: https://www.chipstockinvestor.com


All our socials: https://linktr.ee/chipstockinvestor

Chapters:
(0:00) Why the CDN market matters for AI infrastructure
(1:00) What a CDN actually does
(3:00) How each company differentiates: security, compute, observability
(3:45) Live dashboard: market cap and revenue
(4:00) Revenue growth: Cloudflare's 33.5% vs. Akamai's slowdown
(5:00) Margins that matter: gross, operating, free cash flow
(6:00) Balance sheet: net cash vs. Akamai's $4.2B net debt
(6:30) Long-term revenue trajectory
(7:00) Cloudflare valuation: is 40x sales too rich?
(8:00) Portfolio moves: trimming Cloudflare, Akamai's turnaround, Fastly's upside

CSI owns shares of Cloudflare. Content is for general information or entertainment only and is not individual investment advice. All investing involves risk, and you could lose some or all of your principal.


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